The instant invention relates generally to transporters for crop harvesting implements, and more particularly to method and apparatus for securing an implement to such a transporter.
Generally, harvesting equipment, particularly hay harvesting equipment, has been designed and manufactured with a transverse width that would permit transport thereof over the highway and through farm gates. Although the hay harvesting machines commonly referred to as pivot tongue windrowers, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,946, granted in 1978 to Philip J. Ehrhart, were generally wider in a transverse direction than previous pull-type hay harvesting machines, the centrally mounted pivoted drawbar permitted towing of the harvester directly behind the tractor in a centrally located position and, therefore, transport of the harvester in a normal operational orientation was possible.
Increasing transverse widths of such harvesting machines, however, prevents harvesters from being towed over the highway and through restrictive openings behind the tractor in a normal orientation, necessitating the provision of alternative means of transport. Two methods of transporting such implements in a transverse orientation are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,962,853 and 3,721,461. Such apparatus requires a movement of wheels, hitches, jacks, etc. to equip the harvester for movement in a transverse direction, including the disconnection and reconnection of appropriate hitches to the tractor.
The development of the pivot tongue harvester with a laterally extendible drawbar, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,560, permits the harvester to be mounted on a transporter and transported in a lateral orientation by utilizing the drawbar of the harvester as the hitch connection to the tractor. Such a transporter utilizes transversely extending load ramps to permit the harvester to be elevated from the ground onto the transporter. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,996, granted to Earl E. Koch in 1986, discloses a transporter developed for carrying an implement of the type including a pivot tongue arched over the crop cutterhead of the implement and pivoted at is rear end to a location midway between the opposing side ends of the wheel-supported frame from which the cutterhead, or header, is suspended. The transporter includes an over-the-center latch adjacent each platform to engage special brackets affixed to the harvester frame to secure the harvester to the transporter. This is a very functional and reliable system; however, it does employ parts and components that are relatively expensive and moderately complex.
Another example of a transporter is U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,829, issued to Walters et al. in 1999. The transporter shown in the ""829 patent, while very similar to the Koch patent mentioned above, differs, inter alia, in the method by which the implement is secured to the transporter. In the ""829 patent, upwardly facing latch hooks are affixed to the rear of the implement and, after loading onto the transporter, rise into engagement with bumper/latch bars on the transporter as the header is lowered for transport. This system is not quite so complex as the earlier machine, but does require specially bent and formed parts that require more skill and labor to manufacture than those required by the instant invention.
It would be desirable and beneficial to provide an apparatus for securing the implement to the transporter that is simpler to manufacturer and easier to assemble than those used in prior art machines.
It is an object of this invention to provide an implement transporter that employs simple hooks affixed to the transporter and cross pins on the implement to securely fasten the implement to the transporter.
It is another object of this invention to provide fixed hooks, open toward the ramps, and cross pins on the implement arranged so that the cross pins enter the mouths of the hooks and then fully engage the throats thereof when the header on the implement is lowered to the transport position.
It is a broad object of this invention to provide an improved implement transporter of the type described herein that is reliable and stable in design and simple in construction.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a method for securing an implement to a transporter, the steps of which are simple and easy to follow, and result in a reliable locking of the implement to the transporter time after time.
It is a feature of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for securing an implement to a transporter that does not rely upon complex or expensive to produce components.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a lateral transporter for carrying a harvesting machine in a transverse orientation that is durable in construction, inexpensive of manufacture, low in maintenance, facile in assemblage, and simple and effective in use.
These and other objects, features and advantages are accomplished according to the instant invention by providing a method and apparatus for securing an implement to a transporter. The transporter has rigid hooks affixed thereto adjacent the platforms upon which the wheels of the implement rest during transport. The implement has horizontally protruding cross pins that rise as the header on the implement is lowered to the transport position. By directing the wheels of the implement onto the transporter platforms, the cross pins are moved into the mouths of the hooks and then, upon lowering of the implement header, the pins are directed into the throats of the hooks, securing the implement to the transporter.